Intel, AMD Competition Stepping into Integrated Graphics Realm

Intel and AMD both took advantage of the IDF show to show off their upcoming processor platforms that will feature CPUs and GPUs on the same die.

SAN FRANCISCO-Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are about to see
their competition relationship further heat up as they prepare to roll
out new processor platforms that feature graphics technologies
integrated onto the die.

Intel executives put their upcoming "Sandy Bridge" second-generation
Core architecture onto center stage during their Intel Developer Forum
event here Sept. 13-15. The 32-nanometer chips, which should start
appearing in systems in early 2011, will offer the CPU and GPU
(graphics processing unit) on a single piece of silicon, a move designed
to improve such tasks as high-definition video, 3D rendering, gaming,
social networking and multimedia. Removing the discrete graphics card
and putting those capabilities on the die with the CPU also will lead
to space savings and greater energy efficiency.

AMD also is moving in that direction with its Fusion
initiative, born out of the company's acquisition four years ago of
graphics vendor ATI. The upcoming APUs (Accelerated Processing
Units)-AMD's name for chips with integrated CPU-GPU capabilities-will
come out in systems next year in the form of the "Zacate" 18-watt chip
notebooks and desktop PCs, and the 9-watt "Ontario" processor for
netbooks and other small form-factors. Both are part of the "Brazos"
APU platform.

In a hotel suite nearby the IDF event at the Moscone
Center here, AMD officials showed off the Zacate, including a
demonstration that they said showed their chip running significantly
faster than Intel's current Core i5 processor.

Bob Grim, AMD's director of client platform
marketing, said the APU chips are the culmination of a vision that
company officials had four years ago when they bought ATI. Last year,
CEO Dirk Meyer announced that AMD was essentially combining its CPU and
GPU businesses as it marched toward an integrated platform, and last
month AMD officials said they were phasing out the ATI name, so that all their products were identified with the AMD brand.

AMD has gotten criticism from some analysts for being late
with the APUs-which were first expected to appear in 2008-and
essentially allowing Intel to catch up. In an interview with eWEEK,
Grim said that while systems with AMD's APUs would be coming out about
the same time as those with Intel's Sandy Bridge, there were some key
differences, including the positioning of the processors.

Grim said the expectation is that Sandy Bridge will
first appear in high-end PCs and then cascade down to the midrange
later. In contrast, Zacate will appear in systems in the $500 range.

"We're bringing it in at the heart of the mainstream market," he said.

That will mean that the large number of customers
looking for a high-performing, energy-efficient system with high-end
graphics capabilities will be able to get one immediately from an
AMD-powered system, according to Grim.

AMD officials also expect broad support from OEMs and ISVs when the new platform is ready, he said.

In the demonstrations, AMD ran a Zacate chip against
a 2.4 GHz Core i5 from Intel. Grim would not disclose details of the
Zacate chip, including its speed.

In one demo using the video game "City of Heroes"
from NcSoft, the frame rate on the Zacate chip was about double that of
the Core i5. Using a beta version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9
browser, Zacate's speed was about three times that of the Intel chip
when running the Amazon Shelf performance test.

In a test showing a spinning wheel of color, Zacate again bested the Intel chip.

Grim conceded that the Zacate processor was running
against an existing Intel chip that didn't have the strong integrated
graphics of Sandy Bridge, but noted that while the system with the Core
i5 processor sold for about $800 on the market, a faster Zacate-based
PC would come in at about $300 less.

In a research note regarding Sandy Bridge, Charles
King, an analyst with Pund-IT Research, noted the promise that the
integrated graphics capabilities held for Intel, but pointed out the
competition it faced from not only AMD, but also the likes of discrete
graphics vendor Nvidia and Qualcomm, with its Snapdragon processors
based on ARM designs.